


In The Shivering Air

by flintrage



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: And then some other stuff about winter and blahblah whatever, Angst and Feels, Bisexuality, Cosy winter fic time, Dutch and Bessie aren't in love but they love Hosea and are excellent friends, F/M, Friendship, Grumpy Old Men, I haven't written it yet but you'd better believe we'll be talking about Annabelle in this fic, I really don't know what to tag this with tbh, Introspection, It's just Dutch introspecting and freezing his ass off, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Romantic Friendship, Snowed In, Some Humor, Winter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:49:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27732571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flintrage/pseuds/flintrage
Summary: After Hosea and Bessie leave to make a life for themselves elsewhere, Dutch makes the long journey to the Grizzlies to visit them as promised, and tries not to think too hard about how easy it would be to convince them both to come back to him.
Relationships: Annabelle/Dutch van der Linde (past), Bessie Matthews/Hosea Matthews, Bessie Matthews/Hosea Matthews/Dutch van der Linde, Hosea Matthews/Dutch van der Linde
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	In The Shivering Air

It was freezing. Nothing moved in that high, cold world but the wind, the fading sun and the stars that rose beyond it. Blanketed in snow and pine needles, the earth held its breath and wished for Spring.

Dutch, too, wished for Spring, but it would be months before it came to this place, and by the time it did he’d be long gone. He was shivering hard enough that his teeth hurt from chattering. The Grizzlies were an inhospitable place at any time of year but Winter here was cruel like nothing else. He’d been to places much farther North of here that had still felt like Florida by comparison- but then, he supposed he hadn’t been to many mountain ranges up that way, preferring wide open plains and the freedom of grasslands where he could get them. He’d have taken Winter in  _ Vermont  _ again over this kind of hellish, biting mountain air any day. How Hosea lived up here, with his lungs as sensitive to the cold as they were, was beyond him. 

He knew the  _ why _ of it, though. That man would have followed Bessie to the ends of the earth if she’d asked it of him. She might as well have: the Grizzlies were about as remote as anywhere, a lonely, desolate place that Dutch couldn’t imagine anyone building a life for themselves in. The Matthews had managed it, of course. Whenever he visited Dutch ached just to look at them, torn between joy at their well-deserved comfort and sorrow at the separation of the world he’d shared with them so long. They seemed happy, the two of them. They’d have been happier still if Hosea could stop trying for domesticity and wildness at once. 

He’d have to make a decision eventually, Dutch figured. No one could live like that forever: split into two halves, your best and worst self at war with each other every waking minute. He tried not to think too hard about that. Every journey he made here he tried not to think about how easy it would have been to ask Hosea to come back home with him, how easy it would be to convince Bessie that they’d  _ all  _ be happier that way, knowing Hosea would follow where she led. 

But the cabin was just ahead of him now, the lantern at the door pulling him forward through the snow, and he forgot how to think about anything but the promise of warmth, and welcoming arms to pull him inside.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments are always appreciated whether it's an essay, a liveblogging, two words, or just "<3". If there's anything you particularly want to see in this fic, please feel free to suggest it or talk about it! 
> 
> I can't promise this fic will be updated very often as I'm terrible at keeping up with multichapter fics, but I will do my best when inspiration strikes.


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